His debut collection weaves a Palestinian perspective into the narrative, offering a nuanced portrayal of characters navigating the challenging terrain of dual identities.

By Nageen Riaz

Canadian immigrants and those who have experienced displacement are intimately familiar with the feelings of loss, betrayal and helplessness. For some, the struggle to feel at home between two worlds can prove to be a difficult battle, and becomes one which feels more like a purging of their old life rather than a journey to build a new one.

Over the course of his career, Toronto-based lawyer and writer Saeed Teebi has become all too familiar with these emotions. His debut short story collection, Her First Palestinian, offers readers a Palestinian-Canadian perspective for understanding the complex feelings of anxiety, pain and guilt that come with witnessing injustice in your homeland from an ocean away.

The nine stories within the pages of Her First Palestinian candidly portray the historical reality of Israeli violence, but refuse to succumb to a narrative dominated entirely by victimhood or a sense of suffering. Instead, characters are presented as doctors, professors and lawyers who live ‘full’ lives with their families and loved ones. Teebi ensures his characters do not conform to the stereotypes associated with being Palestinian and allows his stories to showcase the complex personalities that go beyond just a nationality. Characters are self-aware of their careful decision not to appear too loud, expressive or angry, as these emotions may automatically label them as the “typical Arab.” Instead, readers are invited to witness the inner workings of these characters as they recognize their own desperate helplessness through the direct and confessional first-person narration.

Still, Teebi does not turn a blind eye to the invisible string that attaches each person to their homeland. Each of the characters, who are Palestinians living in Canada, experience remorse and fear in their day-to-day lives in a variety of ways as they attempt to navigate a hostile world, often at the expense of their beliefs and duty to their Palestinian community. Moreover, by referencing recent world affairs, with some plots touching on the impact of COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, Teebi creates a sense of homogenous relatability, regardless of the reader’s personal proximity to the Palestinian resistance.

Her First Palestinian brilliantly reflects the Palestinian community within Canada, commenting on every emotion, action — or lack thereof — and every heartwarming interaction that truly defines its people. With each story comes new characters, new problems, new twists and new emotions, making Her First Palestinian impossible to put down. Coming in at just over 200 pages, the book keeps readers on the edge of their seats as they try to keep up with the frustrations, happiness and heartbreak that washes over them with each narrative.

In the wide world of Canadian literature, Her First Palestinian stands as a complex, intricately crafted piece of fiction — explorative, confident and struck by the harsh realities of immigrant life: A father who refuses to carry the burden of his people, a lonely college student desperate to impress his roommates, a grandfather on the hunt for his lost love, a professor realizing his identity strips him of his rights, an entrepreneur that does the unthinkable for the sake of his family. Teebi beautifully blends the line between the desire to start a new life elsewhere and finding comfort in belonging to a place where resistance and hope will always persevere.

Her First Palestinian was a finalist for the 2022 Atwood Gibson Writers’s Trust Fiction Prize and shortlisted for the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize. The book is making waves in literary circles and offers a voice for the stories that often go unheard and unrepresented. Journalists adhering to CBC’s recent language guide are not permitted to refer to Palestine as a country or show a map of Palestine, but, through Teebi’s narratives of Palestinians trying to exist in a world that seems to work against them, the landscape of Canadian literature shifts to dismantle these barriers, guard towers and checkpoints. 

Readers can find a copy of Her First Palestinian at most libraries, including the Toronto Public Library and the Toronto Metropolitan University campus library. The book is also available for purchase on the House of Anansi Press website, the publication house that first released the collection in 2022.